


Dark Guardian

by Severely_Lupine



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe, Community: sshg_exchange, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-07
Updated: 2013-03-07
Packaged: 2017-12-04 13:11:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/711128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Severely_Lupine/pseuds/Severely_Lupine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not everyone gets a guardian angel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dark Guardian

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jaxomsride](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=jaxomsride).



"You summoned me, my Lord?" Folding black wings subserviently against his back, the Guardian knelt before his master.  
  
"Ah, yes," said a rasping voice. Lifted high and proud away from his throne, the Dark Lord's own wings made him appear far larger than he was. Their pale, nearly translucent membranes fluttered slightly in the drafty room. "A status update. How goes your assignment?"  
  
"Well, my Lord. I'm certain he suspects nothing."  
  
The Dark Lord tapped his long nails impatiently against the arm of his throne. "The girl, Severus. The girl. Can we use her?"  
  
"Ah. I... believe so. It is still early to tell."  
  
"She's eleven. Dolores was ten when she was locked. Fenrir was four. Harry Potter isn't even as old as her, and already Lucius has assured me he's useless to us."  
  
Severus kept his eyes lowered. "Yes, my Lord. Forgive me, but she is... unusual."  
  
The Dark Lord looked cannily at his servant. "Severus, can it be that you've grown attached to this one?"  
  
"No, my Lord."  
  
"Don't lie to me," the Dark Lord warned.  
  
"She... has spirit," Severus allowed.  
  
"Yes, you do have the most unusual appreciation for _spirit_ , don't you? But spirited people are dangerous if not broken and bridled."  
  
"Yes, my Lord."  
  
"Need I remind you," the Dark Lord pressed, "of what happened to the last spirited girl you nurtured a fondness for?"  
  
"No, my Lord. I remember."  
  
"Good. Let it serve as a warning to you in your dealings with this one."  
  
"Of course. Is that all?"  
  
The Dark Lord stared at his bowed head for a long minute, then waved his hand in the air. "You may go. For now."  
  
Severus nodded, keeping his head bowed, and left the throne room with the tips of his wings dragging along the floor behind him.  
  


**

  
  
There it was again. That feeling—no, that certainty—that she wasn't alone. A chill ran up her spine, despite the summer sun that filled her bedroom with light and warmth. Hermione set her book down beside the others on the floor and stood.  
  
Was she being silly? She didn't _see_ anyone. Didn't _hear_ anyone. Had she been reading too many novels lately?  
  
But what harm was there if she was wrong? Her parents weren't at home, so there was no one around to hear her talking to thin air.   
  
She straightened her spine and said firmly, "I know you're there. Come out where I can see you." She looked around, waiting.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
Maybe she really was being silly. But she could have sworn—  
  
Slowly, someone shifted into view. He didn't move out from behind something or anything, but as she watched, the shadows in one corner of her room seemed to solidify and take shape. She stared, mouth open, hearth thudding wildly, at the stranger. There really _was_ someone there!  
  
He was a grown-up with pale skin, long black hair, black eyes, black robes, and—her breath hitched—and big, black, bat-like wings folded behind him.  
  
She screamed.  
  
His expression changed suddenly. It had been curious, impressed, but now panic flashed across his features. "Hermione, wait!" he said, reaching out to her.  
  
She jumped back and ran to her bedroom door, but he stepped with legs much longer than hers to cut her off, standing in front of it. Seeing she had no escape, she stiffened her back again, balling her fists at her sides. "Who are you?" she demanded. "How do you know my name?"  
  
"My name is Severus," he said slowly, watching her. "How did you know I was here?"  
  
"I don't know," she answered. "I just sort of... knew. I've been able to tell for a while, and I finally got sick of it. How long have you been watching me?"  
  
He kept staring at her with his black eyes. "Almost since you were born." His wing twitched, flexing for a moment. It looked like a nervous gesture.  
  
She squeaked. They were real, then. "What are you?"  
  
He hesitated before answering. "I am... a Guardian. Your Guardian."  
  
"What, like a guardian angel?"  
  
He snorted. "Do I look like an angel?"  
  
"No," she admitted, looking at his wings. Curiosity got the better of her, and she took a step toward him, her fingers reaching out to touch the leathery spines of his left wing. "You look more like a..." Her gaze snapped to his face, and she snatched her hand back, stumbling backward until the backs of her knees hit her bed and she fell onto it.  
  
"I am not a demon, either," he said calmly, though there was something pained in his voice. "Not... exactly."  
  
His words didn't reassure her. She thought about screaming again, but it hadn't helped anything the first time. "What do you want with me?" she asked in a terrified whisper.   
  
Severus looked at her for a long moment as if thinking about what to tell her. "I want to help you," he said finally.  
  
Her racing heart slowed a little bit, but she looked at him warily. "How? I don't need any help."  
  
"You do," he said. "There is a war, child. One you know nothing of. Most people are blind to it, even though it's going on all around them."  
  
"If we don't even know it's happening, how can it be so dangerous?" she challenged.   
  
"Oh, but it is. In fact, invisible wars are often the most dangerous."  
  
"I think you're not making any sense," Hermione told him. "Now, please leave. My parents will be back any minute."  
  
"They won't see me if I don't want them to," Severus said calmly. "I must say, Hermione, I'm surprised. You're an intelligent girl. I expected you to be more curious."  
  
"If I thought you were telling the truth, I would be." She crossed her arms to make her disgust with him clear.  
  
Severus released a long-suffering sigh. "If what I'm telling you isn't the truth, then what, pray tell, is?" He unfurled his wings as far as he could in the small space so she didn't miss his meaning.  
  
Hermione considered the strange winged man who'd magically appeared in her bedroom. "All right. Talk."  
  
"How gracious of you." He inclined his head in a mock bow, a tiny smirk on his lips. "As I said, most humans are unaware this war is even going on, even though the fate of humanity is tied to the outcome. But some humans—humans like you—have the potential to make a difference. To be used, by one side or the other. Perhaps even, if you'll excuse the dramatics, to change the world."  
  
"Change the world?" Hermione asked. "Me? But I'm just an eleven-year-old bookworm with big teeth and bad hair."  
  
"The key word here is 'potential'. Now, stop interrupting. It is the job of Guardians like myself to identify these potentially useful humans, watch them, protect them from the enemy's Guardians, and ultimately decide whether or not they should be recruited. Some people, you see, have the right abilities, but lack certain personality traits that would make them lean toward our cause."  
  
Hermione understood. Good Guardians watched to see if the person was good, evil Guardians watched to see if the person was evil. Hermione knew she could never do anything evil. She'd certainly never join an evil army... or whatever it was. It was just her bad luck, she guessed, that he'd found her before one of the good Guardians did.  
  
"So... what do you plan to do to me?"  
  


**

  
  
Hermione walked down the sidewalk beside her Guardian, the strange, frightening man in black with wings like a dragon that trailed behind him. She'd tried to run at first, but when he stepped in front of her and she plowed into his completely solid body, she realized he could easily force her if he wanted to. His calm voice and thoughtful face seemed to say that he didn't _want_ to force her—but he would if he had to. So she went peacefully.  
  
He'd even thought to make her leave a note for her parents saying she'd gone to a friend's house. He'd read it before she set it on the kitchen counter, probably to make sure she hadn't left any secret code. What would her parents do if she never came back home?  
  
She'd been distracted at first, looking for a way to escape, a door or hallway she could duck into before he could grab her. But now her attention was taken by something quite different.  
  
"There's another one!" she whispered, grabbing Severus's sleeve in excitement and pointing to two people looking in a comic shop window. The boy was maybe six or seven. The woman next to him looked old, her skin wrinkled, her hair in a severe bun. Her feathered wings were brown and sort of stripey. As they passed, she looked over her shoulder at them and gave Severus an inscrutable stare through square spectacles.   
  
"Can he see her?" Hermione asked.  
  
"No," Severus answered. "Guarded humans are rarely allowed to see us, even once they begin working for us. You can only see them because I've allowed you to see me."  
  
As they passed the edge of the building, Hermione looked into the alley and immediately jerked back from it, clinging to Severus's arm. Two beefy boys were beating a smaller boy, punching him, kicking him in the stomach while they yelled derisive comments at him. More startling than that, though, was the woman perched on a high stack of boxes, cackling merrily as she watched. She had a terrible beauty, wild black hair, and pitch black wings splayed out beside her, quivering with her laughter, their membranous edges ragged. Beside her, a man watched more sedately, observing the beating with calm calculation. He had a flawless, aristocratic face, pale blond hair, and nearly-white, pristine wings that looked like they were made of the finest leather. As Severus and Hermione passed, he glanced up, met Severus's eyes, and nodded slightly in acknowledgement.   
  
They kept walking, past a park where three kids about Hermione's age were playing tag. One lively red-haired girl was running away from a somewhat pudgy boy, darting out of his reach whenever he got close. The other girl, blonde and large-eyed, was only standing there, watching the other two with amusement, seemingly oblivious to the entire concept of the game.   
  
They were watched by a trio of Guardians: a strikingly handsome man with black hair, grey eyes, and wings like a raven; a kind-looking man with sandy brown hair, eyes, and wings; and a pretty woman with short blonde hair and magnificent, multi-colored wings like a tropical bird. The three of them seemed to be having as much fun as the children they Guarded, until Hermione and Severus walked close enough to catch their attention.  
  
The black-winged Guardian stood and had already taken a step toward Severus, a desire for a fight clear in his eyes, before the gentler-looking Guardian laid a hand on his arm, stopping him. But he, too, glared at Severus.  
  
The brown Guardian glanced at Hermione, and his eyes widened to see her looking right back at him, then he looked back at Severus with cautious curiosity. He murmured something to his friend, and they went back to the female Guardian, who had moved to stand between Severus and the three children.  
  
"Why do they give you such weird looks?" she asked him. "If it's a war, shouldn't you all be fighting?"  
  
But he just said, "It's complicated," and led her along.  
  


**

  
  
If Hermione had formed any guesses in her mind of where Severus might have been taking her—and he was quite sure she had—he doubted a candy shop would have made the list. When he opened the door, the bell dinged, sweetness assaulted his nose, and Hermione's eyes went wide with surprise and pleasure.  
  
A teenage boy whose nametag said 'Oliver' stood at the counter. "Hello, there," he said with a cheerful smile at Hermione. Well-trained, he didn't so much as glance at Severus until Hermione had said, "Hello," and looked up at him herself.  
  
"I've brought someone to see him," Severus told him.  
  
Oliver took in the way the girl watched Severus speak, looking at him with apprehension and irrepressible curiosity, and nodded. "He's in the back. Go on through."  
  
Severus strode past the counter, leading the girl through. As she passed the young man, she cast a none-too-subtle look at his back, just to make sure she hadn't missed his wings.   
  
"I'm as human as you," Oliver whispered and gave her a wink.  
  
Severus led the girl through a narrow hallway and into a back room. Her eyes widened even more as she took in the room and its occupants. The walls were lined with shelves filled with candies of all description, even more than the actual store had contained. In the back of the room, sitting in a plush armchair, was an old man. His hair and beard were white, the grey feathers of his wings ragged with age, but his eyes sparkled blue. Flanking him were two other men: one, with auburn hair and rusty wings, looked even more haggard, though not as old. Scars made jagged lines across his face and arms, and one eye was missing entirely (though that didn't prevent him from glaring at Severus with his remaining eye). The other was a large, imposing figure: tall, bald, dark-skinned, with purple-tinted grey wings larger than any others Severus had ever seen. He gave Severus a calculating look, but his eyes softened when they landed on the girl.  
  
"Severus, my boy," said the old Guardian, and with those words he managed to convey his knowledge of why Severus was here—and his pleasure at it.  
  
Severus strode to the old man, kneeling before his master, the one who held his—begrudging, but true—allegiance. Severus ignored the gasp he heard from the girl behind him and said, "Hello, Albus." Not waiting for permission, he stood.  
  
Albus inspected the girl, his blue eyes piercing and frighteningly cunning. Then, he held out a candy dish to her. "Lemon drop?"  
  
Hermione looked in wonder from one winged man to the next before nervously taking a candy from the dish. "Thank you."   
  
"She needs a new Guardian," Severus told Albus.   
  
Hermione blinked and said, "Why?"  
  
Severus met her curious, intelligent gaze. "The Dark Lord can't use you. If you're not protected, he'll try to see that the other side can't use you, either."  
  
"But... couldn't you protect me?"  
  
Something in his heart twisted at the hope in her voice. "No. I am... not one of the Light."  
  
"Aren't you?" Albus raised bushy white eyebrows at him. "You changes sides long ago, Severus. You've paid your dues."  
  
"What?" snapped the scarred Guardian in shock. The dark-skinned Guardian smiled warmly.  
  
Severus didn't dare react. Didn't dare hope. "You have no more need for a spy?" he asked dubiously.  
  
"There is a fair-haired young Guardian—I believe you may know him—who begins to show lack of conviction in his duties to the Dark Lord. I think he might be open to seeing sense. And you're correct; your young charge will need protection from the enemy. Perhaps even more than most. Who better than one who already knows her?"   
  
In the old man's sparkling blue eyes, Severus saw what he wasn't saying. Albus, too, could see how attached he'd grown to the girl. Severus nodded. "Very well. Unless," he looked at Hermione, "she would rather have another."  
  
Hermione considered this for a long moment, looking thoughtfully from Severus to the other Guardians, and then said with certainty, "No, I don't think I would."  
  
Severus felt a relief he hadn't expected. He allowed his expression to soften just enough to give the girl a small smile.  
  
He knew the danger that would come when the Dark Lord discovered his treachery. He knew he was only exchanging one set of chains for another. But true freedom wasn't an option anymore. Really, it never had been. Not for Guardians. But these were chains he was glad to take up.  
  
Seconds passed, and Hermione looked around, a little lost. "So, what now?"  
  
Severus knelt before her and looked up into her eyes gravely. "Now, I am yours."  
  
Her eyes widened, and she looked to Albus.   
  
The old man gazed intently at her, his voice kind, but firm. "And you are ours."


End file.
